3rd Rock From the Sun: Season 02 (1996)

Season two of the fantasy sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun begins where Season One left off, with Dick Solomon (John Lithgow), the leader of a group of space aliens who've assumed human form to gather intelligence on the planet earth, still locked in the basement of his home, while his alien clone Evil Dick fiendishly prepares to render pregnant every ...Read MoreSeason two of the fantasy sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun begins where Season One left off, with Dick Solomon (John Lithgow), the leader of a group of space aliens who've assumed human form to gather intelligence on the planet earth, still locked in the basement of his home, while his alien clone Evil Dick fiendishly prepares to render pregnant every woman in Ohio. But fear not, fans! Coming to the rescue is...Dennis Rodman? Once the tone of the season is thus set, anything goes! In later episodes, the Solomon "family" tries to counterract the negative image of extraterrestrials in horror movies--but when they get the chance to write an episode of The X-Files, they pull out every monster-movie cliché in the book; Dick's second-in-command Sally Solomon (Kristen Johnson) finds a new human boyfriend in the rotund form of Officer Don (Wayne Knight, who was then also showing up as Newman on Seinfeld); for reasons best known to herself, Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtin) doesn't want people to know that she's dating her college colleague Dick, one of several obstacles in the path of true romance for this truly odd couple; the Solomons get a crash course in democracy when the dumbest member of the alien team, Harry Solomon (French Stewart) runs for city councilman; and Harry meets and falls in love with his Vicki (Jan Hooks), daughter of his landlady Mrs. Dubceck (Elmarie Wendel), during the Solomons' first Thanksgiving dinner. This quaint celebration proves to be quite an eye-opener for the "visitors", as does their first taste of Christmas. Finally, Tommy Solomon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), outwardly the youngest of the aliens but actually the oldest, must suffer the raging hormones of his adolescent human body, not only in his pursuit of girlfriend August (Shay Astar), but also when experiencing a wave of sexual ambivalence when he develops a talent for flower-arranging! In the season's two-part finale, Dick impulsively asks Mary to marry him, an act which precipitates his first-ever nightmare, which spills over into the subconscious of both Sally and Tommy and prompts Harry to seek out emergency aid from his superior, the Big Giant Head--and which may force the Solomons to return post-haste to their home planet. Closing out its third season as America's 27th top-rated program, 3rd Rock from the Sun also garnered five Emmy Awards, two of them going to series regulars John Lithgow (his second Emmy) and Kristen Johnson (her first). Hal Erickson, RoviRead Less